FILM PROJECTS

Memoirs of a Seed 

We’ll be kicking off our Seed & Spark soon so stay tuned!

Memoirs of a Seed 

by Scott Wray Shearer & Lacey Bishop

60-70 Minute Script Outline

A documentary structured around the life cycle of a seed and the people reclaiming food systems from the soil up.

Logline:

In the heart of Oregon’s Tuality Plains, a community rooted in regenerative agriculture revives forgotten knowledge, and nourishes the land.

Why support:

Memoirs of a Seed reveals a regenerative food movement rooted in soil, story, and community. Support this film to amplify voices reclaiming nourishment, preserving ancestral knowledge, and growing a more just, resilient community, one seed at a time.

Mission:

Memoirs of a Seed documents a community-led movement for regenerative farming and food sovereignty in Oregon. Through soil, story, and shared knowledge, the film uplifts land stewardship, cultural memory, and the voices growing a more just and resilient ecosystem.

Recognition:

We recognize that concepts like reciprocity, stewardship, and sovereignty, central to this story, have deep Indigenous origins. While this project is not Indigenous-led, we acknowledge that the work of healing land and culture takes place on unceded Indigenous territory, and that practices like regenerative farming are one pathway toward the broader work of land rematriation and land back movements.

ACT I — Winter to Early Spring (0:00–20:00)

Themes: Dormancy, disconnection, struggle to take root

0:00–5:00 | Animation: Winter

  • A seed lies in cold, compacted, exposed (non-cover crop) soil.
  • Darkness and dormancy dominate, with subtle internal movement.
  • Stylized visuals show resistance: frost, pressure, stillness.
  • Animated versions of key characters (Charlene, youth, BIPOC elders) are introduced as flickers of seed-memory, grounded in the soil.
  • Establish metaphor: the seed is struggling to root, just as communities face food deserts, monoculture, and barriers to land access.

5:00–15:00 | Live-Action Interviews

  • Introduce Charlene and her space, Foodways at Nana Cardoon.
  • Lacey; A social science student with an emphasis on agriculture, longing for a local permaculture community, shares early reflections and personal arrival to the project.
  • Explain broader issues: food deserts, loss of cultural food knowledge, barriers created by industrial agriculture and land legislation (with bi-partisan issues).
  • Visuals: winter garden, compost, seed packets, indoor gatherings.
  • Emotional arc: recognizing what has been lost, and what still lives underground.

15:00–20:00 | B-Roll & Transitional Narration

  • Snow melts. Beds are prepped. Volunteers arrive.
  • Slow rhythm of winter gives way to stirring activity.
  • Soil is turned. Seeds are prepped.
  • We begin to sense change, readiness, and determination.

ACT II — Spring to Late Summer (20:00–45:00)

Themes: Emergence, growth, effort, collective care

20:00–25:00 | Animation: Spring

  • The seed sends out roots. Life begins underground and above.
  • New characters introduced through animation as emerging sprouts.
  • Visual metaphors of complexity and cooperation: soil microbial networks, root systems, sunlight filtering in.
  • Seed’s journey mirrors new community-led growing efforts, composting, planting, and learning.

25:00–30:00 | Live-Action Interviews & Action Footage

  • Youth working alongside elders in the garden.
  • Farmers adapting to low-till methods, facing unexpected weather, labor challenges, or policy limitations.
  • Meals shared, seeds exchanged, workshops held.
  • Conflict introduced through real-world complexity and interviews with farmers and educators; this is not easy work, but it’s deeply rewarding.
  • Legislators or city officials interviewed.

30:00–35:00 | B-Roll & Transitional Narration

  • CSA Dinners and pickups
  • School classes and student interaction 

35:00–40:00 | Animation: Summer

  • The seed is now a plant. Flowering, fruiting.
  • Tension arises in the animation; growth brings pressure and vulnerability.
  • Animation style is vibrant, colorful, and detailed.
  • We see metaphorical storm clouds, insects, a heatwave; mirroring the pressures faced by farmers and organizers. 

40:00–45:00 | B-Roll & Observational Montage

  • High summer: children harvesting, elders teaching food prep, seed saving practices starting.
  • Festivals, pop-up markets, CSA pickups.
  • The abundance of the seed is mirrored in the joy and resilience of the community.
  • A sense of celebration tempered by the continued work ahead.

ACT III — Fall (45:00–60:00)

Themes: Harvest, preservation, sovereignty, legacy

45:00–50:00 | Animation: Fall

  • The plant completes its cycle.
  • Seeds are harvested, cleaned, stored.
  • Visuals show jars, paper envelopes, roots drying.
  • Animation now mirrors full community form: many seeds, many hands.
  • Youth shown picking up the work, preparing for winter. 

50:00–58:00 | Final Interviews & Reflections

  • Charlene speaks on intergenerational care and land memory.
  • Revisit Seeding A Sustainable Future and Lacey’s call to action and new academic journey notes
  • Community members reflect on what’s been restored: taste, connection, confidence, joy.
  • Emphasis shifts toward sovereignty: controlling food systems, telling one’s own story, storing seeds for future planting.
  • Youth voices speak to continuity and learning.

58:00–60:00 | Closing Visuals

  • Fall rituals: seeds tucked away, a potluck meal, laughter in the garden.
  • Final images echo those from winter but now filled with life, color, and sound.
  • The seed cycle is complete. A new season is waiting.
  • Fall comes in and decomposition shows full cycle of nutrients and where dormancy can actually mean rest, resilience and readiness. 

Animation Segments by Duck Jar Studios

This 60-minute documentary uses a cyclical, seasonal structure to explore the emotional and historical layers of its central subjects. The film combines stylized Duck Jar Studio animations with intimate interviews and immersive b-roll, allowing each ‘season’ to introduce a thematic chapter that mirrors human experience through the rhythms of nature. The animation, drawn from real interview subjects, frames each act of the film and creates a lyrical visual motif that connects personal memory to place and time. With 25–30 minutes of interviews and 10–15 minutes of contextual b-roll and narration, the film balances narrative depth with poetic abstraction.

TONE & NARRATIVE 

1. WINTER: DORMANCY & REFLECTION

Narrative Function:

  • Introduce the crisis: degraded soil, fractured food systems, food insecurity.
  • Set up Charlene and Foodways as a response to this loss.
  • Feature archival/found footage, slow pans of the dormant garden, rainy skies.
  • Use voiceover from Lacey’s thesis about modern agriculture’s failures and the promise of regeneration.

Tone: Reflective, quiet, intimate.

Key Concepts:

  • Soil degradation
  • Disconnect between people and land
  • Legacy of industrial farming
  • Community waiting for change

Visuals:

  • Waterlogged soil, bare trees, compost steaming in the cold
  • Charlene flipping through seed catalogs or journals in the yurt
  • Inside kitchens or classrooms with preserved foods and memories

2. SPRING: GERMINATION & STRUGGLE

Narrative Function:

  • Begin with literal planting; Charlene teaching soil preparation, students laying down mulch or compost.
  • Introduce challenges: unpredictable weather, limited resources, volunteers with little farm knowledge.
  • We see the fragility of beginnings, in both gardens and community.

Tone: Gritty, determined, slow-building optimism.

Key Concepts:

  • Soil building
  • Intergenerational education
  • Knowledge as seed
  • Adversity as part of the process

Visuals:

  • Muddy hands planting in drizzle
  • Close-ups of seedling trays under grow lights
  • Children or first-time volunteers learning to compost or mulch
  • Voiceover: “We are not just planting seeds, we’re planting ideas, resistance, possibility.”

3. SUMMER: BLOOM & ABUNDANCE

Narrative Function:

  • Shift into peak growth, both in crops and community.
  • Highlight food justice in action: CSA shares, educational meals, food redistribution.
  • Feature interviews with volunteers, youth, and elders whose lives are touched by the project.
  • Layer in scientific concepts like carbon sequestration, soil microbiology, but through storytelling and lived experience.

Tone: Joyful, dynamic, sensory-rich.

Key Concepts:

  • Food sovereignty
  • Regeneration as celebration
  • Community abundance
  • Culture, memory, and taste

Visuals:

  • Bees, tomatoes, cardoon plants in sunlight
  • Outdoor cooking classes with laughter and steam
  • People tasting, smelling, naming herbs in multiple languages
  • Food deliveries or community meals with music and storytelling

4. AUTUMN: HARVEST & LEGACY

Narrative Function:

  • Reflect on what was grown, literally and metaphorically.
  • Interview Charlene about the future, aging in place, and intergenerational transmission of knowledge.
  • Show younger farmers, students, or educators carrying the work forward.
  • Introduce new seeds: plans for the future, land conservation efforts, policy advocacy, next generation educators.

Tone: Poignant, hopeful, deeply rooted.

Key Concepts:

  • Reciprocity
  • Seed saving
  • Preservation of food and culture
  • Stewardship beyond the harvest 

Visuals:

  • Fall leaves over garden beds
  • Drying herbs, preserved foods, seed labeling
  • Community gathering to close the season with song or shared meal
  • Quote: “You’re not just saving seeds, you’re saving stories.”

Our Team

Scott Wray (they/them) – Producer, Director, and Co-Writer

Scott Wray is the driving creative force behind Memoirs of a Seed, overseeing story development, production, and direction through their independent studio, ION WRAY MEDIA.

Lacey Bishop (she/her) – Co-Writer and Co-Narrator

Lacey Bishop brings a dynamic voice and collaborative spirit to the script and narration of Memoirs of a Seed. Lacey is an Environmental Humanities graduate from the University of Utah and the author of Seeding a Sustainable Future, her master’s thesis exploring the impacts of industrial agriculture and regenerative solutions. Memoirs of a Seed is loosely inspired by her thesis. She also works with Foodways at Nana Cardoon, supporting community food systems in Oregon. Lacey brings both academic insight and grounded storytelling to the film’s narrative. Originally from Port Townsend, WA, she is also a trail runner, skier, and rock climber deeply connected to the land.

Ali Pickard (she/they) – Associate Producer

Ali Pickard recently served as Associate Producer on The Kelly Clarkson Show, supporting both celebrity and human-interest segments. Their background in national broadcast media brings professional polish and organizational strength to the team.

Padraic O’Meara (he/him) – Director of Photography

Padraic O’Meara is a Portland-based cinematographer with international roots in South Africa and experience shooting for brands such as Nike, Adidas, Rivian, and Intel. He brings a refined, story-first approach to visual storytelling that blends clarity with beauty.

Ryan Graves (he/him) – Colorist

Ryan Graves is a Portland-based colorist whose work brings vibrancy and cohesion to the moving image. With a sharp eye for tone and atmosphere, he shapes raw footage into living, breathing worlds, balancing subtlety with boldness to guide audience emotion.

Mary Krantz (she/her/they) – Creative Coordinator

Mary Krantz is a multifaceted creative professional based in Portland, Oregon. She has worked professionally in film in many different capacities including creative administration, producing, assistant directing, and acting. The most recent short film she produced, Goose Woman, is currently on the festival circuit and will screen at the inaugural Portland Under The Stars Film Festival. Equally important to her work are her hobbies: playing guitar, songwriting, biking, and rollerblading.

Skip vonKuske (he/him) – Composer / Film Score

Skip vonKuske is a founding member of the Portland Cello Project and Vagabond Opera, with over four decades of cello performance and hundreds of recording credits. As composer, he blends classical cello, electronic looping (as Cellotronik), and ambient soundscapes. His scores include The Hours Till Daylight and French Exit. His work is known for marrying improvisational energy with deep emotional texture.

Charlene Murdock – Co-Narrator (Foodways at Nana Cardoon)

Charlene Murdock is Executive Director and co-founder of Foodways at Nana Cardoon, an urban farm and learning center in Forest Grove, Oregon, grounded in regenerative agriculture, traditional culinary knowledge, and community education. She leads workshops, farm tours, and intergenerational programming focused on seed-saving, food sovereignty, and ecological stewardship. Her voice brings authenticity, rootedness, and a deep connection to the land.

DuckJar Studio Animations – Supplemental Animation

DuckJar Studio is a Portland-based hand-drawn 2D animation studio working on shorts, music videos, commercials, and animated assets across a range of budgets. They specialize in traditional, visually character-driven animation that evokes classical aesthetics while remaining playful and contemporary. Their work is known for emotional expressiveness and a “tiny but mighty” creative ethos in the Pacific Northwest animation scene.

Additional Interviews

We’ll also be interviewing local farmers, Food Network chefs such as Shannon Feltus, university professors, seed banks, city officials, lawmakers, and more!